Scripture: Luke 19:28-40
Today is Palm Sunday, the day when Jesus entered the
city of Jerusalem in the most glorious way!
We remember that in previous encounters with the people, the Lord always
seemed to caution them to keep His identity to themselves. Perhaps, the time had come to proclaim Jesus
as Messiah, but for some reason, Luke’s account of the triumphal entry only
tells us that the masses praised God for sending this “king” to bring blessings
to their lives.
The other gospels recount the more familiar phrases
of “Hosana to the Son of David” and
‘Hosana in the highest heaven!” It’s uncertain as to why Luke didn’t include
the call for rescue and salvation that is implied through the word
“hosana”. But still, the praises that
Luke does report let us know that the Lord is being recognized and glorified
for Who He truly is just the same.
Regardless of the report, it’s unfortunate that the people’s praises
didn’t last longer than these few short days, for it wouldn’t be long before
the praises would be exchanged for shouts of “Crucify Him!”
And even though I’m sure that the Lord’s heart broke
as He realized the temporary nature of those adorations, He must also have been
encouraged when He remembered the countless billions of praises that would be
lifted up throughout the many centuries to come.
Read Luke 19:28-31
After all of the walking that Jesus did during His
years of ministry. traveling back and forth between Judah and the Galilee, it
makes you wonder why He would need a ride at this time when He was about to
enter into the City of Jerusalem - and not a ride on just any donkey, but a
young colt who had never been ridden before.
Traditionally, many victorious kings would enter the
home capital of a conquered nation riding on a donkey instead of on his war
horse. It was intended to be seen as an
offer of peace, of personal humility, and gentleness toward the people of the
conquered nation. Not that a peaceful and
rewarding existence would necessarily last very long for them, but at least it was being
offered as a possibility!
But perhaps a more significant aspect of Jesus’ request
was because the colt had never been ridden, or used for any other purpose until
this moment. The world’s imprint had
never been imposed on the animal, implying, if you will, that the colt had yet
to be claimed in a worldly way, which made it the perfect ride for the Perfect
Savior.
In Zechariah 9:9-12,
the prophet also proclaims this very thing - that peace will come from the Lord
in a humble and loving way, and that the implements of war and destruction would
no longer be used as an everyday occurrence that aroused fear in the lives of
God’s people. And the prophet says that
this promise will be shown to be true through the Lord’s covenant in
blood! This passage begins by telling us
that this person who is coming on a young donkey will be 1) their king, 2) who will
be righteous, 3) victorious and never defeated, 4) lowly, or humble! Does this sound like someone you know?
Read Luke 19:32-40
It seems that the donkey was waiting for the men in
exactly the place that God needed it to be.
Some have tried to explain this entire event away by claiming that Jesus
had probably met with the owner previously and arranged to have the donkey
available for the disciples to bring it back to the Lord. But we all know that the Lord doesn’t work
that way – that God is the ultimate inspiration in everyone’s life, and
that the Holy Spirit will always work to enable God’s Holy Plan to be completed
in divine glory without question!
Throughout the gospels, as well as in all of the
epistles, all that Jesus ever did, and all that the disciples and other
faithful people experienced, must never be explained away in terms of worldly understanding
or happenstance. God is always at work
to not only accomplish His good, but also for the good of those who are
faithful in Him. When we strive to bring
praise and glory to our loving God, He will be faithful to us.
And in this passage when we read that many spread
their cloaks on the road, and that some put their cloaks on the donkey, we see
that each act was intended to be an expression of the individual’s adoration
and praise for Jesus. The rejoicing that
so many offered that day was incredible – to the extent that the Pharisees were
infuriated by all of the rejoicing and praising that was being directed toward
the Man who they had been planning to do away with! And Jesus tells them, in response to their
calls for silence, that when these stop praising, that “stones” are going to
cry out!
In Luke 3:8
we read that John the Baptist told the crowds who were coming to receive his
baptism that they needed to begin “producing fruit in keeping with
repentance”, and not to depend upon their heritage as descendants of
Abraham to deliver them safely to glory.
John continued to chastise the people with these additional words – “For I tell
you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” The significance of this proclamation is that
God can allow people, other than the Israelites, to receive the covenant of inheritance
that was given through Abraham.
And on this Palm Sunday, it’s important for us to
understand that we are those stones who have been raised up out of the
world, that we might become worthy of the covenant that God made for Abraham
and his descendants. Too few of
Abraham’s descendants have given God the glory that He deserves, and because
the “chosen” of God have found the obligation that God asked of them
unacceptable, the very “stones” that Israel rejected have been raised up to
serve Him as His children– “chosen” in a new way – the way that is by faith, in
order that we might accept the covenant of salvation through Jesus Christ. From
Galatians 3:7-8 - 7 Understand,
then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel
in advance to Abraham with these words: “All nations will be blessed through
you.”
Out of those
stones, we have been raised up to become children and heirs of God’s grace
through Abraham. But the question for
today is - are we living and serving and praising and blessing others as
“stones for Jesus” should be?
If not, when are we going to begin?
